Clamping device



March 26, 1940. M. LUCAS CLAMPING DEVICE vFiled Nav. 24, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 b i INVENTOR. M

ATTORNEYJ March ze', 1940. M, LUCAS 2,194,803

CLAMPING DEVICE Filed Nov. 24, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO LM amv b ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 26, 1940 PATENT t OFFICE CLAMPINGDEVICE Manuel Lucas,

New York, Y.

Application November 24.1937, serial No. 176,233

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a clamping device and more specifically to a Work-holding, clamping dev1ce.

In general, it is an object of the invention to 5 provide a device of the character described, which Will efliciently perform the purposes for which it is intended, which is simple and economical of construction, ywhich can be expeditiously, conveniently and safely manipulated, and Whichcan vbe readily manufactured and assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clamping device which may be conveniently positioned for assembling the Work and may be otherwise and conveniently positioned for presenting 4the work to an operative for further operations to be performed thereon; to provide such a device wherein elements used during the assemblage of the work upon the device are removable from the scene of operationsv to be performed after the Work has been nally and xedly clamped in position; and t provide such a device which is usable at once by an unskilled operative.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplied in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which willbe indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, `taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in 35 Which:

FigureY l is a perspective View of a device embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2`is a sectional View, in elevation, of the device shown in Fig. l, in closed position but 40 without the main supporting frame;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, on a smaller scale and'with a part thereof pivoted into removed position;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the clamping element shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the/device shown in Fig. 1, the aligning element not being shown; i

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one pivotable, principal, supporting element of thev main frame;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged View of a detail of the device shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8 is a modified form of an element of the device shown in Figs. 1-7.

The clamping device of the present invention is usable for clamping operations of Various kinds in connection with various materials. It is par.. ticularly useful in the manufacture of neckties. The several parts of the machine will be described with that type of assembling in mind.

Specifically, there is a horizontal table on which K is laid cloth which is to be sewn into a tie. Clamps hold'the folded cloth or material in place. The insert or lining for the tie is placed on the clamped cloth. A covering plate swings down yl and binds the cloth and insert between itself and the table. The clamps and guides for the insert are then released and swung out of the way, leaving the edges of the material and part of the insert extending out from between the table and the covering plate which latter are then swung together into upright position so that the said edges and extending insert are positioned along the top of the machine where they are exposedly and conveniently presentedA to an operative for 2o being sewed together. Thereafter, upon being' removed from the machine, the tie is turned inside f out, carrying its lining into the inside thereof. It may then be ironed so that the edges are in the position of a seam along the back of the tie and the lining is fixedly attached on the inside ofthe tie along the seam.

The parts of the device just mentioned and to be described in detail below are so simple in operation that they may be manipulated by an unskilled hand, who mayrsew by hand the eX- posed edges referred to. Neckties which are sewn by hand are known to tie better and to hold their` shape better than those which are machine-sewn. As a result, hand-made ties of cheap material sell i" for more than machine-made ties of less expensive material, independent of the relative cost of machine and'hand labor. Hand labor is costly, however, because there have not been devices suitable to cut d o-wn the time of the hand labor :land because of the time required to train apprentices. Such training time may extend into months and this is a eld where the labor turnoveris' very large. The utility and advantage of the present machine -is obvious. A beginner may i operate it after a few minutes and it presents the work to the operator in such a convenient position that even a trained sewer may perform the sewing steps in much shorter time than would be otherwise possible.

In the drawings, l0 denotes a standard or frame which holds the device proper. There are means for presenting edges ofthe tie material along an exposed line. These may take the form of a horizontal table-0r plate vl2 having an edge I4.

'The merel-rei fer the tie is folded ente itself with two edges extending out over the edge I4. Means are provided to hold or clamp the tie material in place while the tie lining is being placed on the tie. There is a support for the clamping means. This last may be a ledge I6 extending away from edge I4 and generally in the plane of table I2. The edges of the tie material extend over onto ledge I6. Clamping means I8 are attached to the upper surface of ledge I6 as by bolts 20. The clamping means bind or x the edges of the tie material against ledge I6 by means of the clamping tongues 22 which are fixed to, and pass through, an opening in upright springs 24 which hold the tongues 22 down against the material of the tie. The other ends of the tongues 22 may be used as handles 26. When the handles are depressed, tongues 22 are raised against the action of springsvv 24. The springs 24, with the attached tongues 22, may be pivotable around the'bolts 20, respectively (see Figs. 2 and 5).

'Ihe ledge I6 also acts as a support for an eleyment 28. The latter extends along ledge I6 above clamps I8. It may be sloped downwardly toward plate I2. It includes, as an integral part of itself or as a separate element, an upright 38 which stands on ledge I6 and forms a wall along which the edges of the tie may lie. Openings 32 in the upright wall permit the tongues 22 to extend through that wall to bear down upon the tie material. These openings may be of such extent that the tongues 22 may be pivoted about their respective bolts without contacting wall 30. Means may be provided for exactly positioning the regular or irregular periphery of the tie lining while the latter lies on top of element 28. Such means may be of the nature of a template 29, or one part of the surface of element 28 may be raised with respect to another. By means of this aligning element 29, a tie lining or insert is properly positioned so that it extends across the edges of the tie on ledge I6 and thus lies above both element 23 and plate I2. i

An upper plate 34 is adapted to be brought down against the tie material and the tie lining in any suitable fashion. This plate or any equivalent means acts to bind the lining against the edges of the tie on plate i2. As shown, upper plate 34 is pivoted to the plate I2 along an edge of plate I2 parallel to edge I4. Plate 34 may be somewhat shorter lengthw'me than plate I2.

Means are provided for removing the ledge I6 and the clamps I8 and aligning element 28, which are attached to ledge I6. It will be seen that once the upper plate 34 is in operation, the parts I6, I 8 and 28 are no longer needed. Ledge I6 may be movable about a pivot 36 which is attached to the underside of plate I2. Suitable latch means 33 may coact with an aperture 48 on the lower si-de of plate I2. When the latch means are released, supporting ledge I6 is free to be pivoted away from edge I4.

The operation having begun with the plate I2 horizontal, the edges of the tie and part of the lining extend out, horizontally exposed, from be-v tween the plates after the ledge has been swung down. There are means which permit the two plates to be swung together as a unit from the horizontal position to a vertical position. These are shown in Fig. 6. An angle iron 42, having an upright arm 44 and a horizontal arm 46, is xedly attached to each upright post 48 of frame I0. In the angle cf the angle arm, there is av U-shaped element 5t pivoted on pivot 52 attached to post 48. The U-shaped element may be moved into horizontal or upright position, the vertical arm 44 holding the U-shaped element from swinging past upright position. A spring 54 on element may releasably grip the upright arm 44. The end edges of the plate I2 sit in between the branches of the U-shaped element 50. The plate I2, therefore, is movable from the horizontal into the vertical along with element 5D. Plate I2 carries plate 34 with it. When these plates, with the tie and insert clamped between them, are moved to the vertical position, the tie edges and insert are exposed along the top of the device along a line where they may be easily sewn toi gether by hand by an operator. The plates I 2 and 34 may then be lifted up out of the U-shaped element 50. They, or other similar plates, may be put back into element 50.

Spring controlled latch means 56 may be positioned along the free edge of plate 34 and adapted to coact with elements on the lower plate I2, such as openings 58. In case the aligning element 28 is not large enough to cover the clamping means I8, an extra extension 68 may be pivotally attached to element 28. The extension 60 acts as a guard to prevent thread, which is being used to sew the tie, from catching onto clamps I8.

Clamps I8 may extend farther than is shown in Fig. 5 and may reach over onto platform I2, in which case portions of the free edge of upper plate 34 may be removed so that the clamps I8 may be pulled away from plate I2 after upper plate 34 has been fixed in position.

There may be provided means for further assuring the relative xity of the tie and insert materials between the upper and lower plates. For example, as is shown in Fig. 8, sharp teeth 62, integral with or attached to upper plate 34 along the free edge thereof, may extend through the tie and insert material and into cavities 64 in lower plate I2.

Since certain changes may be made inthe above construction and diiferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a clamping device of the character described, the combination comprising a platform having a surface, a second platform having a surface, said surfaces being positioned so that neck-tie material may extend from one surface onto the other, a plurality of releasable clamps each associated with said second platform and positioned to be available to clamp two edges of foldedv neck-tie material, which is lying on said two surfaces, each against the other and against said second surface, a clamping plate movable to a position close to the first-mentioned platform whereby such folded material and a lining thereonand extending beyond said edges may be clamped between said plate and the first-mentioned platform, said clamping plate and said clamps being free to be operated' together and also independently of the position of each other, whereby said clamping plate and the rst-mentioned platform continue to hold folded tie material and lining material between them after said releasable clamps have been released from the folded material, a plate positioned to receive thereon that portion of a lining extending bekyond the toe material edges and to keep that lining and `said clamps spaced whereby said clamps may be released after said clamping Aplate has clamped the lining against the tie material,

. the surface of each of said platforms and said clamping plate being at least as long as a neck-tie.

2. In a clamping device of the character described, the combination comprising a platform having a surface, 'a second platform having a surface, said surfaces being positioned so that neck-tie material may extend from one surface onto the other, a releasable clamp .associated with said second platform and positioned to be available to clamp against each other and against said second surface two edges of folded neck-tie material which is lying on said two surfaces, a clamping plate movable to a position close to the first-mentioned platformvwhereby such folded material and a lining thereon and extending beyond said edges may be clamped between said plate and the first-mentioned platform, said clamping plate and said clamp being free to be operated together and also independently of the position of the other, whereby said clamping plate and the first-mentioned platform continue tofhold folded tie material and lining material between them after said releasable clamp has been released from the folded material, means for releasing said clamp, means for removing said second platform from said tie material whereby the edges of the tie material and the lining clamped thereto areexposed for sewing, and means for moving said platforms and said clamping plate to vertical position when they are in clamped position, the surfaces of each of said platforms and said clamping plate being at least as long as a neck-tie.

3. In a clamping device of the character described, the combination comprising a platform having a surface, a second platform having a surface, said surfaces being positioned so that neck-tie material may extend from one surface onto the other, a releasable clamp associated with said second platform and positioned to be available to clamp against each other' and against said second surface two edges of folded necktie material .which is lying on said two surfaces, a clamping plate movable to a'position close to the first-mentioned platform whereby such folded material and a lining thereon and extending beyond said edges may be clamped between said plate and the first-mentioned platform, said clamping plate and said `clamp being free to be operated together and also independently vof the position of the other, whereby said clamping plate and the first-mentioned platform continue to hold foldedtie material and lining material between them after .said releasable clamp has been released from the foldedmaterial, means for releasing said clamp, and means for removing said second platform from said tie material whereby the edges of the tie material and the lining clamped thereto are exposed for sewing, the surfaces of each of saidplatforms and said clamping plate being at least as -long y as a neck-tie.

4. In a clamping device of the character describedthe combination comprising a'platform having a surface, a second platform having a surface, said surfaces being positioned so thatneck-tie Amaterial may extend from one surface onto the other, a releasable clamp associated with said second platform and positioned to be availableto clamp against each other and against said second surface two edges of folded necktie material which is lying on said two surfaces, and a clamping plate movable to a position close to the first-named platform whereby such folded material and a lining thereon and extending beyond said edges may be clamped between said plate and the first-mentioned platform, said clamping plate and said clamp` being free to be operated together and also independently of the MANUEL LUCAS. 

